The Home Machinist!

I think it comes down to:

1. Superheater & thottle arrangement
2. Feed water heater
3. Flue & Tube max lenght. ( i think around 22ft?)

I don't think the lenght would make a huge difference cleaning.

For example any of the LE 4-8-4s, will have a much longer smokebox than a LE pacific. It's not a big issue.

I think this was also largely due to the front end throttles and type e superheaters taking up more space as well.

Many modern locomotives had access panels on top of the smokebox above the throttle and superheater manifold.

Building one of the WM #6s?

I thought someone did put a round link " block" in a valve gear on here with positive results. If stephenson, the eccentrics and eccentric straps will have likely as much if not more wear. Would consider making bushings that fit between the eccentrics and eccentric straps, then you can harden the st...

Very cool.

I feel like one of these days you'll design a museum quality locomotive casting set that will be on par with the berkshire kit in terms of accuracy and detail.

How did you create the air gap between the lead and jacket?

Look forward to seeing the new website. Looks like you also have some new products to release.

Hopefully, you'll be able to buy online from it like on the new allen models, EE, titan trains, tom b online sites.

Pardon my ignorance, but if I understand the process right you had to make a seperate mold for the gray core as well?

I guess something like 3d printing the mold simply won't cut it for a production run ?

Wow that thing will pull like crazy then. So you added .125 of lead under the entire jacketing that you put on it ?

Looking good!

Can certainly see the advantages of using cylinder castings that have a cast smokebox saddle on it after watching the amount of time it's taken you to finish your fabbed saddle.

If you want the detail, someone used to make fake decorative boiler jacket clamps that on the prototypes typically were along the top of the boiler. I think they were just screwed into the jacket as they were for looks only.

How much weight did the lead add?